01/22/2026
With the predicted cold weather, we wanted to take this opportunity to share with you how you can manage your pool, and pool equipment during this time. Know that your pool and equipment is usually NOT covered under your home’s insurance policy.
Understand this first, every pool is unique, and the circumstances and environmental conditions that your specific pool and equipment experience will be unique to your situation. We can not anticipate every little circumstance that may affect your pool. So the following is a broad brush generalized statement.
What can happen:
The danger with cold weather is the freezing of pool equipment. Water, when frozen, expands. This expansion breaks things; expensive things, like pumps, filters, and heaters. Water is less likely to freeze when it is moving. Also, if there is no water inside any of your equipment, then there should be no water present to freeze, and therefore expand and break something.
Two choices:
There are essentially two options to managing cold weather: water movement and draining equipment. Generally speaking, water movement through your equipment is the best course of action. Draining all of your equipment is also a choice. There are risks and possible consequences for both actions.
Water movement:
Moving water is less likely to freeze. Your pump or control system should automatically turn itself on when the outdoor air temperature gets below 37 degrees. This is an automatic action by your equipment, no action should be necessary from you. If your pump does not turn itself on automatically, then you would need to run the pump manually until the air temperature is above 37 degrees.
Water movement is dependent upon:
1. Have enough water in the pool. BEFORE the weather freezes, add plenty of water to the pool. Keep a water hose inside a garage or somewhere it will not freeze in case you need to add water during the event. If your water hose freezes, you can thaw it out in a shower or tub with warm water.
2. You must keep leaves out of your skimmers and filter basket. Leaves restrict water flow and this slows down water movement. Water movement is essential to reducing the risk of damage to the equipment. It helps to wear long rubber gloves to keep your hands dry when removing leaves from skimmers.
3. A clean filter.
If the power goes out:
When water stops moving through the equipment, this is when the real risk of damage occurs. At this point you need to take actions to reduce the risk of damage to the equipment. Follow these steps:
1. Turn the power off at the circuit breaker(s) to all of the pool equipment at the service panel. You do not want the power to come back on and then burn out your pump because it is running dry.
2. Drain the water from your pump. Almost all pumps have two drain valves located down low, on the side. One will be directly under the filter basket. The other is usually on the same side and about half way down the side of the pump. Once these two plugs are removed, remove the pump lid. I typically place the two drain plugs inside the filter basket so they are kept safe and not lost.
3. Drain your booster pump if you have one. Booster pumps that run pool cleaners usually have one drain plug. That drain plug is located on the bottom front of the pump.
4. Drain your heater if you have one. It is difficult to tell you how to drain your heater, as there is no “typical” number or placement of drain plugs. It would be best to look online to see how to drain your heater. Understand that even with removing the drain plug, or plugs, there is probably going to be a substantial volume of water left inside the heater. The best option for draining the heater at this point would be to remove or cut open the pipes leading into and out of the heater (there will be two pipes). Beyond this, blowing air with a leaf blower or wet / dry vacuum through the inlet pipe from the filter will be the last and final option for removing water from the heater. Heaters are very expensive, and are very susceptible to being frozen and breaking.
5. Drain your filter. There will be a drain plug located somewhere on the bottom of the filter. It may be easily visible, or it may be located up under the filter. Once you have removed the drain plug with a pair of pliers or other tool, open the air relief valve on top of the filter.
6. Remove the salt cell if you have one.
Beyond this, everything should be fine. There are cases where valves could be frozen if water is trapped inside the pipes. But, this starts to get into the areas where every situation is different and not everything can be accounted for. Also understand that with stopping water movement through the equipment, also stops water movement in your pool.
When water stops moving in your pool, the water surface will likely freeze. Frozen water can damage tile, skimmers, and other features in the pool. Some possible solutions that have been tried are: breaking up the ice around the pool tile line every so often, pouring bags of pool salt around the tile line directly onto the ice, and / or putting logs in the pool before the water is frozen. If you use the salt option, ONLY use pool salt.
We are here to help. We hope nothing happens to you or your pool. Stay safe and warm.
Best wishes and good luck,
Vanguard Pools
817-438-2283
